Florida St. gets by newcomer Virgina Tech

Posted 8:15AM on Sunday 9th January 2005 ( 20 years ago )

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA - With the game on the line, Florida State turned to its veteran Saturday night. Adam Waleskowski sparked a 15-2 run late in the game and Von Wafer finished with 21 points as the Seminoles beat Virginia Tech 77-70 on Saturday. His 3-pointer tied the game at 64-64 with 5:30 left and a pair of free throws by Andrew Wilson with 1:12 remaining gave the Seminoles a 76-66 lead. ``Toward the end we just lost our toughness,'' Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. ``We were in position to win the game.'' During the run, Waleskowski also sank four straight free throws, made a steal and grabbed a key rebound that led directly to another score. ``He's a veteran who understands the game,'' Greenberg said. ``He gives them a calming effect. Coming into the game I thought he was their basketball player and I saw nothing to change that.'' Waleskowski, one of two Seminoles seniors, finished with 13 points and a team-high six rebounds while Wilson was in double figures for the first time this season with 10 points. Zabian Dowdell led the Hokies with 18 points, Coleman Collins added 16 and Carlos Dixon 15. Florida State (9-6, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) had a season-high 10 field goals from 3-point distance in the first half to build a 45-38 lead. Wafer scored a dozen straight points in less than two minutes late in the first half that wiped out Virginia Tech's 26-24 lead. ``When he gets it going and get in his rhythm, we've got to find a way to take him out of his rhthym and we didn't do a good job of that,'' Greenberg said. Florida State shot 58.5 percent from the floor, including a 57.9 percentage mark from long range, but turned the ball over 28 times. ``That took away so much of our momentum,'' Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. Virginia Tech (6-6, 0-2) took a 48-47 lead five minutes into the second half on a Dixon layup and then took the lead again, 62-61, on Deron Washington's tip-in with 6:38 left. ``If this is the 10th best team in the league, we're in for a long fight,'' Hamilton said.

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